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Not Your Mama’s Crunchy Granola (A Giveaway)

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Hey there! I'm Jessica. I think that motherhood should be savored, like a good piece of chocolate. But sometimes it feels like more duty than delight. Am I right? I'm working to change that. Read more about me here and this blog here.

Years ago I got our family into debt, well, deeper debt than we were already in, by trying to “go organic.” I read some books, thought it made sense, and then I tried to change my shopping overnight.

Kids, please don’t try this at home.

It was a total and complete disaster. Certainly, it was not Organic’s fault, it was mine, not being a good steward with what we had, and not taking baby steps.

When I woke up from the nightmare, hubs and I worked and prayed really hard and climbed out of the hole. We ate more boxed, processed cereal in that eighteen month period than I had in all my life previous. My kids loved it. It was free. It was a means to an end.

In fact, I blogged about this means to an end thing back in 2008. I felt bad that we weren’t eating the best diet. Remember, I had done all that reading. But, I also knew that God wouldn’t have us spend money we didn’t have. So, I banked some hope that someday we’d be able to clean up our eating habits a little bit.

Three years ago, there were not all the great blogs that there are today to help you eat well and spend less. I’ve learned a lot over the years, and thankfully, we’re out of debt.

One book I wish I had had back then is Not Your Mama’s Crunchy Granola by Crystal Collins. The book outlines a 7-week program for healthier living — on a budget.

Sounds scary? Yeah, that’s what I thought. But, I love what Crystal says in the introduction:

You have just made an investment in your health! No, wait! Don’t run away! This isn’t scary at all. I’m not going to tell you to stop shaving, wear hemp clothes, and have a unibrow. This ebook will take you through seven weeks on the subject of Healthy Eating, Green Alternatives, Fitness and also Saving Money. Each week speaks simply about steps you can take to gradually change your life. This is all done in baby steps, so that #1 you are not overwhelmed, and #2 you will be more motivated to try.

The baby steps look like this:

Simplify

Water

Fitness

How to Save Money

Raw Foods

Organic Gardening

Green Your Home

When I look back at my life and the lasting changes I’ve made over the years, I realize that change doesn’t happen in one fell swoop. It happens over time and in cycles. Crystal’s book provides a variety of choices to choose from. I don’t need to do them all, but I can pick a few things and test them out. Later I might come back to the list and pick a few more. I like that!

And I like it that Crystal makes the choices clear.

Currently, the book is $5. But, if you order the book this weekend and use the code LAM, you can get the book for $2.99!

Win a copy!

Crystal is also giving away a copy of her book to 3 Life as MOM readers.

To Enter:

Leave a comment on this post: How do you want to improve your eating habits?

This giveaway will be open until Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 8 pm PST. Winners will be chosen at random and notified via email. Please respond within 48 hours to claim your prize. This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to the winners: lecocolate@, Deesselisa@, beburkhart@

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book and am an affiliate for The Thrifty Mama.

I’m a gardening mom of 5; we eat pretty healthy during the mid-summer thru the fall, but it gets hard financially to keep it up over the winter when most produce is expensive – and my kids could eat an elephant. Would love more tips on how to feed them healthy thru the winter when their immune system needs it the most 🙂

We have been eating a lot more of a whole food diet, but I am terrible with seasoning and always fall back to taco seasoning packets, boullion cubes and cream of whatever soups….I wish I knew more, and could season things better on my own

I want to make homemade, wholesome snacks for my family and homemade “take-out”. We do pretty well with meals, but I’m constantly caving to the processed snack industry because I have a son with some food/texture issues. I also spend more money and calories on take-out than I should; I want to learn to duplicate those recipes at home without breaking the bank on pricey ingredients.

I’m actually pretty happy with my eating habits right now – I would just like to be able to eat more organics. My family, however, needs a ton of work in eating less processed and more whole foods. If I could get my hubby on board, it would make getting the kids to eat healthier much, much easier.

I definitely need healthier snacks! I had triplets 7 months ago and was sooo sleep deprived that I fell back on constant sugary snacks to stay awake. Now I’m getting (slightly) more sleep and need to break the habit!

I would love to read this book. It sounds interesting. I have Fibromyalgia and have had 2 surgeries this year as well as Serotonin Syndrome, so now that I am on the mend from all of this I would like to take better care of myself, increase my energy levels, and prevent more difficulties with my health. This book would be a push for me in the correct directions. I really hope I win so I can get control of my health and my life again.

I definitely believe in taking baby steps if you want to make big changes. I’ve been working inch by inch toward healthier eating and I’d love some new, frugal ideas for meal time as well as greening up our home a little more.

Wow, this sounds like a great book! I write a lot about real food recipes, and we keep trying to buy organic, and/or locally raised food. I think the struggle is not simply about affording “organic,” but also finding resources locally. I simply don’t have the time to shop all over. I’m still struggling over how to make it happen in a busy schedule.

I feel that we eat pretty healthy, but then when I really think about it, I realize that there is some room for improvement in many areas. Plus, I would like to know how to make granola–and have it not be crunchy. I love granola, but don’t like how expensive it is and how chewy it is. It makes my jaw hurt usually when I eat it. Maybe this wouldn’t. Thanks for the opportunity!

I would love to win! We are always trying to eat less processed foods – which means more from scratch foods, which I need to find more time for. Some weeks are better than others.

I just read your post from 2008, it was great. Every week I try to hit the ideal, but we have been going over budget on groceries a lot lately. I like your way of thinking – a means to an end. In the grand scheme of things, if I feed the kids a not so great for you food for lunch one day because it was free – it is not going to effect their health all that much, although it could keep $4-5 in my pocket. Thanks!

with my first child, I made all her baby food from scratch and vowed to feed her nothing but “good foods.” the problem was, my husband and I were still eating all the awful foods we always did. somewhere along the line, my toddler ended up with a steady diet of chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, and hot dogs. Now my youngest is started to eat solid food and I want to learn from my mistakes. I want to lead by example so my daughters can learn what I never did.

I want to start….one kid at a time! I have 3. 2 out of the 3 won’t touch a piece of fruit if you threatened them with death! 1 out of the 3 will not even look at a vegetable. The other 2…will only eat corn. Desperate times call for desperate measures! I’m not ashamed to mentioned that I’m at the point of sneaking good, healthy, organic food into their diet!

I would love to start freezer cooking – or at least planning in advance more effectively than what I do now. I have started to double-up recipes as I make them, so that has helped somewhat. But, we surely need a change. Thank you for your encouraging & motivating posts!

My fsmily is in the process of eluminating processed food due to my daughter’s newly discovered food allergies, mostly found in processed foods. Unfortunately, in order to help her, our diet is very limited. I would love ti be able to have more healthy variety in order to help my daughter. Perhaos she would not view this sudden drastic change as a a negative.

I shopped at Costco and while checking out they commented how much for I got for low price. I told them it was all unprocessed that is how you save money! Make it yourself!! Of course when I got home I had to start cooking!! I hope it learn more tricks how to eat well and save money!

I want to find recipes which use healthier options and use less refined foods. I need to lower my cholesterol so I have begun cooking fish at least twice a week. I am also cooking for a diabetic so I need recipes which are diabetc friendly.

I saw a nutritionist a few years ago to get myself on a healthy eating plan. I threw away all the bad stuff and started buying all the healthy stuff. But it was very expensive. Especially if I purchased something and no one in my family liked it, I was throwing money away. Needless to say, we haven’t been eating as healthy as we should cuz I don’t know what tastes good and what doesn’t and I can’t be throwing money away like that….this is a dilemma for me, the regular grocery stores don’t sample the organic or healthier items…they usually sample their store brand, or national non-organic brands.

my family is turning to healthy food as an everyday life style change. while its not all organic, i do get a few things here and there. my 2 year old has posed to be the challenge to healthy eating. darn those kids that won’t try veggies, fruit or anything that remotely “looks” different. 🙂

Wow, where do I start. There are 6 of us in this awesome family of mine. Two teens and two picky eaters. Between trying to be more organized, decluttering, being more frugal and eating healthier I’m a tad overwhelmed!! I’m starting with eating better…..making sure I have things on hand so I don’t end up blowing the budget(and my pants zipper) on take out . As parents we have to be more proactive in eating better so we feel our best mentally and physically. It’s not easy being a kid( as I’ve heard many times) but some days it’s can be pretty tough being a mom and dad too!! Although I wouldn’t change a thing….. I could use some help!! Thanks for your honest and awesome blog!!!!!

I feel like I’m always trading off one thing for another – either it’s healthy or it’s quick or it’s inexpensive and I know there’s a way to do it all… just haven’t figured out how to do so in this particular season of my life (deployed hubby, four kids, four animals, full-time job, blah blah blah we all have full plates).

I have been trying to gradually change our eating habits. I haven’t bought pop-tarts or cheez-its in months, however I have fruit loops and several other “not very real food” foods in my kitchen. I would love to learn how to improve our eating and on a budget!

This book sounds really good! I want to increase our organic purchases (beyond apples, which is one of the few organic that we buy right now) and learn how to make *faster* healthy foods so I don’t give up and give in to faster unhealthy, if you know what I mean. 🙂 creedamy [at] yahoo[dot] com

i’m actually pretty happy with our lifestyle right now…at least mine! i overhauled my eating habits after my baby was born and eat very clean and drink only water and decaf tea. my hubby still needs work though and is very resistant to fruits and veggies at times. my little one does pretty well though!

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